Pauline del Rosario. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Pauline del Rosario closed out bogey-bogey on Thursday, failing to sustain a hot start to fall four shots behind Ling-Jie Chen and the hard-charging Babe Liu after two rounds of the Party Golfers Ladies Open in Hsinchu County in Chinese Taipei.
The big-hitting Del Rosario had a six-birdie binge in an eight-hole stretch bridging both nines of the Lily Golf and Country Club only to miss the last two greens for those two costly shots and a three-under-par 69 and 138 heading into Friday’s final round.Chen followed up an opening 66 with a 68, while Liu assembled a 65 for 134s with three home bets tying for third three shots behind.
Thai Mim Sangkapong carded a 69, Ching Huang of Chinese-Taipei shot a 71 and first round joint leader Jessica Peng wound up with a 72 as they tied Del Rosario.
Del Rosario, who leads a contingent fielded by the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, believes that she still has a solid shot of repeating a blistering comeback to win the TLPGA and Royal Open crown in 2017 when she rallied from six shots behind.“I still think I’m in a good spot,” Del Rosario said. “The course is gettable but also a lot can happen, so I think I have a good chance.”
“I slipped on my second shot on No. 18 and missed my pitch for an up-and-down,” said Del Rosario, who is priming up for the Ladies Professional Golf Association Q-Series later this month in Alabama.